The invention relates to a device for supporting a side washing brush of a vehicle washing system, which brush is rotatable about a rotational axis, the device including a bearing apparatus for rotatably supporting a drive shaft, and a holding apparatus which is connected to the bearing apparatus and which is held on a frame by means of elastic cushioning elements arranged above and below the holding apparatus.
The invention further relates to a vehicle washing system having such a device and a side washing brush mounted on the device.
For cleaning a vehicle in a vehicle washing system, at least two side washing brushes are usually used which may be rotated about vertically aligned rotational axes and which are used for cleaning the side parts of the vehicle. The side washing brushes contact the side parts of the vehicle, but must not be allowed to exert excessively high pressures on the vehicle, since otherwise there is risk of damage to the vehicle. For this reason, the side washing brushes in each case are usually pivotably mounted above the vehicle on a device. The device includes a bearing apparatus which supports a drive shaft that is connectable to the side washing brush in a rotationally fixed manner. The bearing apparatus is held on a holding apparatus which in turn is held on a frame of the device. The connection between the holding apparatus and the frame is established via elastic cushioning elements which are arranged above and below the holding apparatus and which accommodate the holding apparatus, in certain areas, between them. With the aid of the elastic cushioning elements, it is ensured that the side washing brush which is connected to the drive shaft may be deflected from the vertical direction during cleaning of a vehicle without this resulting in damage to the bearing apparatus or the frame. The side washing brush is thus pivotably supported by means of the cushioning elements so that it is able to tilt in order to reach vehicle parts extending at an angle.
A device of the above-mentioned type is known from DE 32 39 530 A1. In this respect, the holding apparatus has an annular disk which surrounds the bearing apparatus in the circumferential direction. The annular disk is situated between resilient upper cushioning elements and resilient lower cushioning elements which in each case are screwed to the annular disk and to fixed counter-supports. When the side washing brush deflects from the vertical direction, the cushioning elements exert elastic tensile forces and compressive forces on the annular disk. The side washing brush may thus undergo a deflecting motion. However, there is a risk that the cushioning elements may be damaged, in particular for larger deflections of the side washing brush.
It is an object of the present invention to improve a device of the generic kind for supporting a side washing brush, which is rotatable about a rotational axis, in such a way that the risk of damage to the cushioning elements for fairly large deflections of the side washing brush is reduced, and the service life of a vehicle washing system having this type of device and a side washing brush mounted thereon may be prolonged.